Entries by Barry Yourgrau

I'm an American writer and journalist in Istanbul right now. I had a nasty, scary harrassment by plain clothes cops on Sunday, June 16 by Gezi Park. They forced me to delete camere footage. I did as instructed on the spot (see details below). Somehow a Youtuber...

I shot this video of a police tear-gas assault in Taksim this morning, Tuesday.

The video gets shaky toward the end because my hands started trembling.

Note all the bystander cameras clicking away. And the simit seller at his bread-ring stand, in a gas mask:

Riot cops went in just to the square to clear it of barricades and banners -- leaving Gezi Park alone. Cops used gas and water cannons against resistance mainly from young guys in gas masks or with scarves over their faces, who were throwing what looked like molotov cocktails. Some behemoth water-cannon trucks caught fire.

Such violence from protesters hadn't occurred before. Twitter here was immediately alive with derisive speculation that many of these guys were infiltrators, that the whole thing was a spectacle staged for the TV cameras, to try to make Occupy Gezi look bad. Confusing...

One cop wasn't wearing his gas mask:

This action was followed by a lull, that slowly gathered again in tension. More regular protesters seem to have joined in. Typical Taksim rhythm. Here's a glimpse. Note: this is a prime tourist zone.

Part of Erdogan's renovation scheme for Taksim Square and Gezi Park involves funneling traffic underground. Taksim is a major transportation hub. The artery boulevards of Cumhuriyet (from the north) and Taralbasi (from the south) lie along the west side of Taksim/Gezi. Here these boulevards are being refashioned into tunnels --...

This is video I shot Saturday morning, June 1, on Istiklal, the main globalized shopping street in this besieged city's European side. The street runs into Taksim Square across from Gezi Park. Usually it's a swarming tide of tourists and locals. A different scene these days. More details after video.

The ruling-party governor of Istanbul banned May Day demonstrations today at central Taksim Square, the traditional and recently revived site of May Day gatherings. Taksim is being massively renovated. The governor claimed security concerns. Labor unions and political groups scoffed and said they'd go ahead.

As my plane descended towards Scotland, I boasted to the guy next to me that the first thing I'd do in Glasgow was grab a meat pie and a pint of Tennant's 80 shilling ale. After we landed, I settled for a square-cut-sausage sandwich and a cappuccino -- life-threatening enough.

Nicolas Winding Refn's hard-boiled stripped-down crime thriller Drive thrums with such knockout style, I'll wager a platinum set of dual carbs on an Oscar nomination for its cinematographer, Newton Thomas Sigel, at the least.

The starship of the dining future, El Bulli, just closed its doors. So ends the restaurant phase of Mr. Wizard Ferran Adriá. Phase 2.0 will be a wide-ranging research center housed in a state of the art/future recoversion of the restaurant's...

I had the pleasure of a month in Amsterdam this summer (ciao to New York's hottest June-August on record). I knew Amsterdam's attractions from previous visits. But this time I realized how it's one of the world's great cities for walking (but watch out for bicycles!).

I flew to Amsterdam from New York a couple of days ago, connecting through Madrid with a long layover. So happenstance offered me a paired glimpse of the two capitals from the World Cup final: red winner, orange loser.

A couple months ago, I said to my friend Steve, a soccer maven of the highest order, that I thought a key factor in the World Cup would be the timely health of players. In other words, injuries. His response, looking up from his charts and tactical diagrams, as it...

Those who study the ways of child abuse, like the pyschologist Alice Miller, tell us that adults who abuse children were themselves usually abused as children. Abuse is a self-perpetuating noxious cycle. As you were mistreated, so will you pass that along.